Let's face it, the camera straps that come with most DSLRs are pretty much worthless. They're not the right length, they get wound up easily, and most of the time they leave your neck and shoulder with "strap rash" - So whats a photographer to do? Simple, buy a different strap!

There is almost a science to upgrading your camera strap. From my personal experience I can easily say that one strap does not do it all. I currently have three camera straps, each of them serving a purpose depending on the type of shoot I am jumping on. However, I do not own a well rounded strap that sort of brings it all together in a small package. This brings me to my latest purchase, a BlackRapid strap simply called The SHOT.

Next month I will be traveling to California for the first time. I will be there for a total of seven days traveling to San Francisco and then making my way to the Big Sur area. Obviously I will carry my camera with me every second of the trip, but as I mentioned I didn't have a camera strap that would make that very comfortable. The straps I currently own are long cross-body straps that are used to hold a secondary camera and I typically wear them at work. For the most part I tent to not wear a strap on my primary camera when shooting around to stay completely free of restrictions, but this time I will need some mobile support that would be comfortable on the move.

After a couple days of researching I stumbled on The SHOT, by BlackRapid. This strap appealed to me for two reasons, it's a single shoulder strap, and the grip looked super sticky. The company offers two colors, orange and black. I bought the black version of the strap for $35.00 directly from BlackRapid (free shipping) and received it in the mail a few days later [**As soon as I opened the box I knew this strap was perfect for my trip!].

The SHOT connects to your camera using a fastener that screws into your tripod mount. Once secured BlackRapid provides you with a Lock Star, which is a metal piece that clips onto the lock and prevents the hardware from scratching the bottom of your camera. This is a huge deal to gear junkies like me. Any time a company designs something to protect a customers investments is always a plus.

Just by looking at the pictures online I could tell that that non-slip rubber grip was no joke. After a day of shooting where I jogged, walked up stairs, and even jumped around The SHOT stayed glued to my shoulder. The grip is actually stationary on the strap and the strap itself is a set length, which means it's not going anywhere.

I am sure by now you can tell my verdict on The SHOT is a very positive one. I highly recommend you consider this strap if you are in the market for a lightweight and secure camera strap that makes it easy to capture the moments around you on the go.

Don't forget to check out the official BlackRapid website for more details on The SHOT and the other amazing products that have available.